Annoying Questions I'd Like Answered...

Username17 · Post by **Username17** » Thu Jan 30, 2014 12:57 pm

If it's that Chinese skin cream they just recalled, that would totally work. I mean, it would work to suppress dermatitis flareups if you applied it over a two week period. If you used it longer than that, it would probably give you Cushing Disease or suppress your adrenal glands and give you reactive Addison's Dissease when you eventually stopped using it. Corticosteroids are powerful, and effective at suppressing dermatitis, but ultimately pretty dangerous and shouldn't be used for long periods of time.

Unless you want to look like this baby.

Anyway, simple moisturizing creams work for some people, as does getting more sunlight exposure. I understand that you live in the shadow of the iron curtain and cannot see the sun - but just something to remember to try if you end up going someplace that the day star shines upon.

-Username17

Longes · Post by **Longes** » Thu Jan 30, 2014 1:14 pm

He looks like Michelin guy.

Nachtigallerator · Post by **Nachtigallerator** » Thu Jan 30, 2014 5:17 pm

Given that we're asking mostly medical questions anyway, here's one from me:

As part of my courses, I have to write short dossiers (one for each semester) on a GP patient and their ongoing treatment and problems. Last semester, I checked with the GP practice and looked through the patient records - there was a note of a prescription for Citalopram, one daily, over three months. I figured the patient had been depressive and considered the prescription an improvement over the last one (which was for Citalopram for two weeks, which I'm pretty sure isn't helpful) and wrote it down.

When I talked to the patient, she said she didn't want to discuss the reason for the prescription, but mentioned that it hadn't worked. I called up the doctor to confirm my suspicions, and what he told me is that he gave Citalopram to enhance her analgesia with metamizole, as she has ongoing back pain and a recent hip replacement.

So .. does that actually work, or does this GP have some strange ideas about SSRI? I couldn't find references for this kind of thing, but might be looking in the wrong places.

Username17 · Post by **Username17** » Thu Jan 30, 2014 5:34 pm

Anti-depressants affect how other pain medications function in a number of bizarre ways. Tricyclic anti-depressants have analgesic effects of their own. In the late nineties, there were a number of experiments to see whether SSRIs could be used as analgesics either as mono-therapy or combination therapy. As far as I know, this didn't pan out. But there are more studies, and this is far from settled even now.

Anti-depressants in general are pretty useful for chronic pain even if they don't make the pain go away. Because one of the major contributors of chronic pain to poor quality of life is simply feeling shitty.

-Username17

Prak · Post by **Prak** » Thu Jan 30, 2014 5:39 pm

Frank, given how many people use this thread to ask you medical questions, have you considered making a thread specifically for that, as our resident physicianmedically trained person?

echoVanguard · Post by **echoVanguard** » Thu Jan 30, 2014 11:44 pm

FrankTrollman wrote:Anyway, simple moisturizing creams work for some people, as does getting more sunlight exposure.

How much sunlight exposure does one need? My baby daughter has the worst atopic dermatitis and we're about ready to sacrifice goats and chickens for relief.

echo

Username17 · Post by **Username17** » Fri Jan 31, 2014 12:30 am

echoVanguard wrote:
FrankTrollman wrote:Anyway, simple moisturizing creams work for some people, as does getting more sunlight exposure.
How much sunlight exposure does one need? My baby daughter has the worst atopic dermatitis and we're about ready to sacrifice goats and chickens for relief.

echo

10 minutes of noontime sun is the normal dose equivalent for people who don't want to stand in a light therapy booth. You should still shield the eyes. If your baby daughter is a soulless ginger, you might want to start with less and try increasing exposure times by 30 seconds at a time if she seems to be tolerating it. You don't want to burn, but to instead expose the skin to light to a point that is well below the burning threshold.

-Username17

Maj · Post by **Maj** » Fri Jan 31, 2014 12:32 am

Giovanni had terrible skin problems that peaked last year. We discovered the solution totally by accident - Woolite. We had changed laundry soaps before - even to green and -free types - and seen no change in his eczema, so I didn't think that had anything to do with it. But when we ran out, we tried a sample of Woolite that we'd gotten at Costco. It was a miracle.

Before that, we had to rely on tubs of Aquaphor, extra gentle soap, and buckets of hope.

I know... My anecdotes are not necessarily indicative of your success because everyone is different. And I don't know what you've tried. But that was something that worked miracles for me.

Koumei · Post by **Koumei** » Fri Jan 31, 2014 2:48 am

For the record, any "recommended sun exposure" assumes you are in a sensible part of the world. In Ausfailia it's 3.9 seconds and not a moment more, lest your body suddenly erupt into a cancerstorm. Or just ignite into flames.

tussock · Post by **tussock** » Fri Jan 31, 2014 8:35 am

Oh, the ozone holes aren't there all year, mostly in spring and only pass over for an hour or so anyway, half of them at night! Sure, it does increase the UV quite dramatically and totally give people surprise sunburn, but not often.

I did find it funny to read Frank mention ten minutes though, as it's summer here and the burn times in the middle of the day are all about 12-14 minutes. Yay for colonisation, and check your local UV index, which is probably about 1 up in the winter latitudes and you couldn't burn if you tried. Lucky bastards.

radthemad4 · Post by **radthemad4** » Fri Jan 31, 2014 10:53 am

Been jogging for a while now and I'm wondering if I should aim to jog longer or faster? What should I consider in making this decision?

erik · Post by **erik** » Fri Jan 31, 2014 11:51 am

Probably need more info but I suspect if you are wanting to build muscle then put in some intermittent sprints in your jog so that you mix it up a bit. Jogging longer at the same pace only has limited benefit after a point.

Grek · Post by **Grek** » Fri Jan 31, 2014 1:14 pm

If you're jogging for cardio/weight loss, your ideal workout would have you doing 150 minutes of aerobic activity per week, spread out throughout the week. Going for a longer weekly duration will result in injuries while doing less exercise will (obviously) result in less health gains. Running faster will only shift you over to the anaerobic phase quicker, making your exercise less effective.

If you're jogging to build muscles, don't. There are way better strength-building exercises for your legs that you could be doing instead.

radthemad4 · Post by **radthemad4** » Fri Jan 31, 2014 1:41 pm

The park where I jog has a perimeter of roughly 445 meters (1460 feet) according to google maps (I took a screenshot, and used translated and rotated copies of the scale on the map to measure it). Everyday (with few misses), I've been alternating walking a lap and jogging a lap there. Most recently, I've been jogging a total of 6 rounds within slightly more than an hour, with the last lap being a sprint (well as long as I can anyway, it tends to become a jog partway). Recently I've tried jogging two laps at a stretch but I'd get cramps or muscle pulls or something in the vicinity of my stomach by the time I finish (though they'd go away in a minute).

I've been doing it to feel less sleepy during the day, but the weight loss is a nice plus. Muscles aren't a priority at the moment, but might be handy sometime soon as my niece and nephew are getting bigger and harder to use wrestling moves on at the same time.

150 minutes a week? Hmm... I haven't been measuring how long I actually spend running. So 22 minutes everyday would work. Thanks

fectin · Post by **fectin** » Fri Jan 31, 2014 6:46 pm

Try moving up to ins-and-outs. Split the perimeter into rough quarters, and alternate sprinting and jogging.

radthemad4 · Post by **radthemad4** » Fri Jan 31, 2014 9:16 pm

I'll give that a shot tomorrow. Thanks

tussock · Post by **tussock** » Sat Feb 01, 2014 4:15 am

I've been getting better at mountain biking. It's highly likely to be the same basic deal, as I got most of it from runners I know.

There are things that make you noticeably faster, or stronger, or have more endurance, or have crazy endurance, and they are all really different. Always warm up: 5-15 minutes of very easy going, longer for longer sessions. Also warm down the same, don't end with a sprint, that's not helping.

Faster is were you sprint as fast as you can for thirty seconds. Then you jog/walk for 2-3 minutes. Then you repeat, and eventually get up to 20 repeats without passing out or throwing up. Start with about 4-6. That's your whole day. Start on soft ground so you can fall over. Try to keep a consistent sprint speed each repeat, holding your sprint speed is more important than doing more. 1/week at most.

Strong is where you go up a hill. Just a little one at a good, steady pace, 3-5 minutes. Or fake it with weights. Then you jog or walk down and do it again. Hill repeats are fun, and hurt your muscles. Which makes your muscles grow bigger, but remember to rest the entire day apart from that and the next one too, because muscles won't grow if you keep at them. Irregular hill repeats on a long hilly circuit work even better.

Endurance is where you go a tiny bit faster than what you're comfortable at, for about 5 minutes, then a bit slower to get your breath for 5 minutes. And repeat until you can't hold it any more, which should get over an hour soon enough. 1/week limit, you want to go further each week for at least three months or so, then rest for a while and start over with shorter ones. It gets so much easier each cycle, and avoids injury.

Crazy endurance is where you carry a lot of food and water because you're going to be all fucking day, or at least over two hours on the go. You always take that shit as easy as you can. Walk a lot. Take rests. Then run some more, gently. Keep eating.

If you want to do more, take it easy. More than three hard workouts a week doesn't do much, as your body just makes everything else go slower to compensate. If you want to get better you've got to push, and you can't push if you're overdoing it.

If you want to do a competition, a 10k fun run or something, make sure you've run over half that distance in training, and ease up to that. And spend a couple weeks before taking it easy, only very short runs at your expected race pace, especially the last week.

Once you're fast and strong and have endurance, your body will turn itself into the body of an athlete, because that's what you have become. It takes 2-3 years, so don't rush it. If you want time off, drop to one or two per week. If you want more days, do shorter and more intense workouts, and always spend at least 1 day a week on the couch.

If you go out and feel like shit, turn around and go home, skip it. It's fine. If your knee's sore when you start, don't fucking run on it, and if it persists go and see someone, because there's a problem. If you need the workout, go clean the garage or something, re-stack your bookcase, move some furniture. If it's cold, wear warm clothes, don't get cold.

That's about it. Mix in some core exercises, pushups and burpees or whatever, something to strengthen your glutes like squats, gentle stretches to check for pain, and buy good shoes at a place which makes sure they fit you. If you want stronger feet and ankles do some gentle runs on uneven ground.

radthemad4 · Post by **radthemad4** » Sun Feb 02, 2014 7:59 pm

Did some Ins and outs earlier today and it felt rather good. I got minor stomach cramps on the end of the fourth lap (8 200ish m sprints and 8 200mish jogs, with 1-2 round walks between each running lap), and then just walked around slowly for a while before heading home.

tussock: Hmm, doing it three times a week would be more convenient than my current daily and mixing it up a bit would make it more interesting. I'll throw in some other exercises, thanks. So, would you recommend doing Fast, Strong and Endurance round once every week each? There aren't any hills nearby, but would 10 stories of stairs work?

tussock · Post by **tussock** » Mon Feb 03, 2014 7:27 am

I did just that last year for a race over about two months and it worked wonders. You are supposed to have a base fitness first by just spending whatever time you can at it, but you should have that easily.

The sprint stuff levels out pretty quick, more than 4-5 times and my gain slows dramatically, though I recorded my "normal" speed jumping appreciably in that time.

I add in more hill climbs and technical work on the bike to replace it, or shorter endurance stuff. Ideally just get out and hit a nice bit of single-track, but they are some distance from me. Mostly ultra-endurance training this year anyway, got a 12-hour mountain bike race coming up, scary.

@stairs, yes, though go very easy on the way down and listen to your knees. Mind your heart rate. The main Strength idea is to do the same distance and number of repeats each week and expect to be faster at it. Later on you may like to throw in a couple floors two-at-a-time, depends how strong you feel. On a bike it's just hitting the same hill in bigger and bigger gears each week, suddenly there's muscles everywhere. Have some protein immediately after finishing to help muscle building, doesn't take much.

Ideally I think three-month training loops work very well, though I seem to keep being exceptionally lazy through the winter one and have skipped the odd month, but you could find two months is heaps for a start. Just take a week or two of very light work every so often and start slower again afterward. I try to find events about that far apart, have a good excuse to wind down, blast out something I could have never done a while back, get things done I've been putting off (like fix the bike, new shoes).

Getting better is wicked fun, and it gets a faster progression and peaks higher each time through, but one does need the rests both physically and psychologically, IME. Do some reading on technique and look for different things to do, before you know it you'll be dying to get out again; doing a half-marathon before you know it.

Prak · Post by **Prak** » Tue Feb 04, 2014 8:29 am

A blog I do some writing for has an opportunity to review the new RA Salvatore.

I'm interested, but I've never read any Salvatore. I know it's Driz'zt, but that's all. How stand alone are Driz'zt novels?

ubernoob · Post by **ubernoob** » Tue Feb 04, 2014 8:31 am

Maxus · Post by **Maxus** » Tue Feb 04, 2014 8:53 am

Prak_Anima wrote:A blog I do some writing for has an opportunity to review the new RA Salvatore.

I'm interested, but I've never read any Salvatore. I know it's Driz'zt, but that's all. How stand alone are Driz'zt novels?

Icewind Dale (the very first one that was written) works pretty well on its own. As, I suppose, does Homeland, the first book of the Drizzt Backstory Trilogy.

Which is a shame, because of a couple of the novels featuring Artemis Entreri, Drizzt's longtime rival, as the lead are pretty fun.

Longes · Post by **Longes** » Tue Feb 04, 2014 9:04 am

Prak_Anima wrote:A blog I do some writing for has an opportunity to review the new RA Salvatore.

I'm interested, but I've never read any Salvatore. I know it's Driz'zt, but that's all. How stand alone are Driz'zt novels?

I've enjoyed the Dark Elf trilogy (about Driz'zt's childhood). First two books are better than the third. I didn't like the other Driz'zt books much though.

PoliteNewb · Post by **PoliteNewb** » Tue Feb 04, 2014 8:40 pm

Thinking about it, any of the three Icewind Dale books can be enjoyably read on their own (assuming you like that kind of thing); they all intertwine, but I read Streams of Silver before I read The Crystal Shard, and I didn't miss much as far as understanding and enjoying the characters and the plot. There's enough cross-referencing that you can pick up the important events from previous books from context (in fact...it's been a while since I read Salvatore, but he might have done that annoying thing where he references other books' events so much it gets tedious if you DO know what he's talking about).

The origin trilogy (Homeland, etc) I recall enjoying...but I was in high school at the time. There is a LOT of drow-wank, which I enjoyed the hell out of as a teenager but which leaves a bad taste in my mouth today. Instead, I'd recommend the early novels that followed Icewind Dale (The Legacy, Starless Night, maybe one more), as that was more about kicking the drow's ass.

Lago PARANOIA · Post by **Lago PARANOIA** » Wed Feb 05, 2014 2:45 am

So, a question arises after watching a playthrough of Miles Edgeworth II.

Say that you know a crazed neo-Nazi who is barely about to snap but otherwise hasn't committed any crimes. Now say that you also know a Jew that you want to kill because you're Proctor or some shit. But he thinks that he's friends with you.

You arrange a totally legal and innocuous meeting with the two, who have never met before. The twist is that beforehand you secretly sent the neo-Nazi a letter saying that the guy you want to see dead has had sex with his wife and daughter. Nothing in your letter says anything about murder or getting revenge, it's written like a friendly FYI. Said neo-Nazi really does snaps and kills the dude when he shows up.

What is the specific name of that kind of crime?